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Stern wants hack-a-shaq out of the game

Written by Trevor Zickgraf

NBA Commissioner David Stern, not a favorite in South Texas right now, was one state over Wednesday night to watch Lakers guard Kobe Bryant score his 30,000th point (congrats to Kobe even though most of us really don't like him). Stern was nice enough to join the Hornets' broadcast crew and discuss several league wide issues. Stern was asked specifically about the Hack-A-Shaq technique that's been used on Dwight Howard this season, and guys like San Antonio Spurs' Tiago Splitter and Clippers center DeAndre Jordan. Stern said not only does he hate the technique, but he even tried to have it banned completely, not just in the last two minutes of a game (H/T to Kurt Helin for the link and Henry Abbott for transcribing the interview).

“I would have liked to have seen the rule changed to make the last-two-minute rule the whole rule,” he said. “It was getting to a point last year where, [in the] first period, they were just grabbing players. I think that’s ludicrous.

“We tried to change it to any time in the game because last year I guess it was everyone was fouling Tiago Splitter early on and the committee didn’t want to do it. And so that’s just the way it is. Because the reality is that there are a lot of basketball purists — and I understand that point of view — who say, ‘Hey, why don’t you learn to shoot foul shots? You’re supposed to be a pro.

There's two ways to look at this. First, Stern is again trying to crack down on a tactic that is employed by Gregg Popovich on a fairly regular basis, so it would definitely hurt the Spurs in that sense. On the other hand, the Thunder used that tactic against Splitter and shattered his confidence, so maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing.

In the end, I imagine this is a battle Stern will never win, but like he said, the purists will just call for guys to be able to make their free throws.

'Coach, we've got an issue with Kawhi in the arena. Event management called and the lights are not on, and Kawhi's in the arena for two straight days at 6:30 in the morning. And he brought two lamps from home, and he put them up in the arena and shot.'

Thought this was an interesting article/topic so I decided to share it. The hack-a-Shaq no more?!?

What do you guys think..?

Hate it? Love it? Don't care?

'Coach, we've got an issue with Kawhi in the arena. Event management called and the lights are not on, and Kawhi's in the arena for two straight days at 6:30 in the morning. And he brought two lamps from home, and he put them up in the arena and shot.'

No surprise. He sees LA struggling with it, and wants to make it easier for them. He mentions Tiago Splitter, why not say something during the WCF when it happened on the big stage? Cause it's obvious what kind of teams he wants in the Finals

People need to get over it. And I wish Trevor would get off whatever soapbox he is on. Please read the statements closely.

Stern was asked specifically about the Hack-A-Shaq technique.

Stern was asked, he did not bring it up. If he would have brought it up then yes it would be a little questionable. But according to this he didn't. Stern is also not the first one to be frustrated by this. Many commentators have issues with this. So people need to stop acting like this is a huge deal.

I would have liked to have seen the rule changed to make the last-two-minute rule the whole rule,” he said. “It was getting to a point last year where, [in the] first period, they were just grabbing players. I think that’s ludicrous.

Please acknowledge the past tense of this statement. His push is not at this current moment but rather was something he has tried to address in the past. He is constantly addressing issues that are a concern for him. He had an issue with flopping and it wasn't a shot at Gino, it was a larger league issue for him. So this has nothing to do with the spurs.

Yes it is a spurs tactic, but they are not the only ones who do it nor is LA the only ones who it has been used against. This is a basketball issue not a spurs issue. And in regards to this rule, I would be all for it. Intentional fouls kind of annoy me.